---
title: Step 2 - Explore the Open Source UI
hide_title: true
pagination_next: open-source/getting-started/deploy-OSS
---

# Step 2: Explore the Weave GitOps Open Source UI

The Weave GitOps user interface enables you to manage and view all of your applications in one place. This documentation gives you an overview of the Weave GitOps Open Source UI.

:::tip
To check out Weave GitOps Enterprise's UI, which provides an even richer user experience, please contact info@weaveworks.org.
:::

## Overview

A quick preview of what the Weave GitOps Open Source UI provides:
* an **Applications view** that shows summary information from `Kustomization` and `HelmRelease` objects so that you can quickly understand the state of your deployments across a cluster.
* a **Sources view** that shows summary information from gitrepository, helmrepository and bucket objects and tells you the current status of resources that are synchronizing content from where you’ve declared the desired state of your system—for example, Git repositories.
* a **Flux Runtime view** that provides the status of the GitOps engine that continuously reconciles your desired and live state. It shows your installed [GitOps Toolkit Controllers](https://fluxcd.io/flux/components/) and version.
* multiple views for debugging

It also enables you to:
* sync your latest Git commits directly from the UI
* leverage Kubernetes RBAC to control permissions in the dashboard

Let's dive in.

## Login to the GitOps Dashboard

First, expose the service running on the cluster with this command:

   ```
   kubectl port-forward svc/ww-gitops-weave-gitops -n flux-system 9001:9001
   ```

Next, [open the dashboard](http://localhost:9001/) and login using either the [emergency cluster user](../../configuration/emergency-user.mdx)
	or OIDC, based on your [configuration](../../configuration/securing-access-to-the-dashboard.mdx).
	If you followed the example above, the emergency user will be configured with the username set to `admin`. This means that you can use “admin” as your user name, and the password that you set earlier during installation as `$PASSWORD`.

   ![Weave GitOps login screen](/img/dashboard-login.png)

## The Applications View

Upon login you're taken to the Applications view, which allows you to quickly understand the state of your deployments and shows summary information from [`Kustomization`](https://fluxcd.io/flux/components/kustomize/kustomization/) and [`HelmRelease`](https://fluxcd.io/flux/components/helm/helmreleases/) objects.

![Applications summary view showing Flux System and Weave GitOps deployments](/img/dashboard-applications-overview.png)

In the above screenshot you can see:
-  a `Kustomization` called `flux-system`. This was created when Flux was bootstrapped onto the cluster, and deploys the [GitOps Toolkit controllers](https://fluxcd.io/flux/components/). It also deploys other Flux objects defined in the same repo, so that Flux will deploy additional workloads—including our [Helm Chart for Weave GitOps](https://docs.gitops.weaveworks.org/docs/references/helm-reference/).
- a `HelmRelease` called `ww-gitops`, which deploys the Helm Chart.

The table view shows you the reported status so you can understand whether a reconciliation has been successful, and when it was last updated. You can also see where the Flux objects are deployed, and which `Source` object they are reconciling from. Clicking the name of the Source will take you to a detail view for the given Source object. The view automatically updates every few seconds so you know the current state of your system.

:::tip
For more information about Sources, please take a look at the [Flux documentation](https://fluxcd.io/flux/concepts/#sources).
:::

More actions you can take:
* Click the magnifying glass icon to search for and filter objects by `Name`.
* Filter by `Type` by clicking the strawberry icon to its right.
* Click the `Name` of an object to get a detailed view for the given `Kustomization` or `HelmRelease`. (You'll see this again in the Sources view.)

### A Closer Look: Exploring the flux-system Deployment

Let's explore the `flux-system` Kustomization. Navigate back to the `Applications` view, and click on the `flux-system` object.

![Application detail view for the flux system kustomization](/img/dashboard-application-flux.png)

It might take a few moments for the data to load. Once it does, you should get a result that resembles the above screenshot. Here you can find key information about how the resource is defined:
* which `Source` it is reading from
* the latest applied commit
* the exact path with the Source repository that is being deployed
* the `Interval` where Flux will look to reconcile any differences between the declared and live state. For example, if a `kubectl` patch has been applied on the cluster, it will effectively be reverted. If a longer error message is reported by this object, you'll be able to see it in its entirety on this page.

Underneath the summary information you'll find:

* The **Details** (default) table view, which shows all the Kubernetes objects (including Flux objects, deployments, pods, services, etc.) managed and deployed through this `kustomization`.
* The **Events** tab (shown below), which shows related Kubernetes events to help you diagnose issues and understand health over time.
* The **Reconciliation Graph** (shown below), which provides an alternative to the Details view and helps you to understand how various objects relate to each other.
* **Dependencies**, which provides a directional graph to help you clarify any dependencies between objects and ensure that your automations are set up in the correct order.
* **Yaml** (shown below), which provides a raw dump yaml view on the object as it currently exists inside your cluster. Note that this will be different from what's in your GitOps repository.

**Events tab**
![Application detail view showing events for an object](/img/dashboard-application-events.png)

**Reconciliation Graph tab**
![Application detail view showing reconciliation graph - a directional graph showing object relationships](/img/dashboard-application-reconciliation.png)

**Yaml tab**
![Application detail view showing the yaml display](/img/dashboard-application-yaml.png)

## The Sources view

In the left-hand menu of the UI, click on the Sources view. This will show you where Flux pulls its application definitions from—for example, Git repositories—and the current state of that synchronization. Sources shows summary information from `GitRepository`, `HelmRepository`, `HelmChart`, and `Bucket` objects.

![Sources summary view showing Flux System and Weave GitOps sources](/img/dashboard-sources.png)

In the above screenshot you can see:
- a `GitRepository` called `flux-system`, which was created when Flux was bootstrapped onto the cluster. It contains the manifests for the GitOps Toolkit and Weave GitOps, and also various Flux objects.
- a `HelmChart` called `flux-system-ww-gitops`. This is automatically created by Flux when you define a `HelmRelease` to deploy a Helm Chart from a given source.
- a `HelmRepository` called `ww-gitops`. This pulls from the Helm Repository where the Weave GitOps Helm Chart is published.

The Sources table view displays information about status so that you can see whether Flux has been able to successfully pull from a given source, and which specific commit was last detected. It shows you key information like the `Interval`—namely, how frequently Flux will check for updates in a given source location.

Actions you can take:
* Apply filtering as you did the Applications view.
* Click a `URL` to navigate to a given source—i.e. a repository in GitHub—or the `Name` of a `Source` to view more details about it.

Go back to the Details tab, and click `GitRepository/flux-system` from the summary at the top of the page.

![Source detail view showing details for an object](/img/dashboard-source-flux.png)

As with an Application detail view, you can see key information about how the resource is defined.

## The Flux Runtime view

Let's go back to the left-hand menu of the UI and click on `Flux Runtime`. This view provides information on the GitOps engine, which continuously reconciles your desired and live state. It comes with two tabs: one for controllers, and other for custom resource definitions (CRDs).

#### Controllers

The Controllers tab shows your installed [GitOps Toolkit Controllers](https://fluxcd.io/flux/components/) and their version.

![Flux Runtime view showing the various GitOps Toolkit controllers](/img/dashboard-flux-runtime.png)

By default, `flux bootstrap` will install the following controllers:
- helm-controller
- kustomize-controller
- notification-controller
- source-controller

From this view you can see whether the controllers are healthy and which version of a given component is currently deployed.

#### CRDs

The CRD tab lists the custom resources that the GitOps Toolkit Controllers use. This allows you to see which resources you will be able to create.

![Flux Runtime view showing the various GitOps Toolkit controllers](/img/dashboard-flux-runtime-crd.png)

## Moving On

Now that we are familiar with the dashboard, let's [deploy a new application](./deploy-OSS.mdx) :sparkles:.
